News category, Page 1625

A German city that’s been the subject of a long-running online light-hearted conspiracy theory claiming it doesn’t really exist is offering big bucks to whoever proves that’s true. Officials in Bielefeld said Wednesday they’ll give 1 million euros ($1.1 million) to the person who delivers solid proof of its non-existence....

CLEARWATER, Fla. — A prosecutor told jurors Wednesday that a white Florida man who fatally shot an unarmed black man during a dispute over a parking space had initiated a similar confrontation just months before, while his defense attorney said the shooting was in self-defense. Prosecutor Fred Schaub said during...

WASHINGTON — U.S. home sales increased 2.5% in July, a sign that lower mortgage rates have produced a spurt of home-buying. The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday homes sold last month at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.42 million units, up from 5.29 million in June. Average interest...

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s state TV is reporting that the country will unveil an Iran-made air-defense missile system. The Wednesday report says the Bavar-373 is a long-range surface-to-air missile system able to recognize up to 100 targets at a same time and confront them with six different weapons. It was...

The United States set a new record in 2018 for petroleum and natural gas production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. U.S. petroleum and natural gas production increased by 16% and 12%, respectively, in 2018, and these totals combined established a new production record, EIA said. The country surpassed...

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s Equality Court on Wednesday restricted the display of the country’s old apartheid-era flag, ruling that its gratuitous use amounts to hate speech and racial discrimination. Judge Phineas Mojapelo said the ruling was not a complete ban, saying use of the flag is protected by law for...

HARRISBURG — Republicans easily won a special election to retain a seat in the state House of Representatives in a GOP-leaning district in central Pennsylvania. Republican David Rowe won Tuesday’s special election in parts of Union and Snyder counties by a nearly two-to-one margin over Democrat Jennifer Rager-Kay. The former...

ATLANTA — A shooting at a block party near Clark Atlanta University has left four female college students injured with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds as a crowd scrambled for cover. A news release from Atlanta police says the four females were shot late Tuesday night outside a library that serves Clark...

FALLSINGTON — Officials at a Pennsylvania school district say a single-digit tax rate typo created a nearly $900,000 deficit for the school district. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a school board resolution from the Pennsbury School District in Falls Township incorrectly set the millage rate for the upcoming school year....

WASHINGTON — Federal drug enforcement agents are alarmed that the opioid epidemic is fueling a spike in methamphetamine use. Across the country, meth overdose deaths and federal seizures from drug busts and border raids paint a stark picture of an increase in the drug’s proliferation. Demand for meth now poses...

WASHINGTON — Two days after he said buying Greenland wasn’t a top priority, President Trump canceled an upcoming trip to Denmark after its prime minister dismissed the idea. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had called Trump’s musing about buying Greenland, which her government owns, “an absurd discussion” after the former real...

WASHINGTON — Former Air Force and Navy fighter pilots are calling on the military to begin cancer screenings for aviators as young as 30 because of an increase in deaths from the disease that they suspect may be tied to radiation emitted in the cockpit. “We are dropping like flies...

MIAMI — A Maryland man is jailed in Seattle after the FBI said he made a series of social media threats against Hispanics in the Miami area. Court records show 35-year-old Eric Lin had an initial court hearing Monday in Seattle federal court on a charge of interstate transmission of...

State Reps. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, and Bridget Kosierowksi, D-Lackawanna, announced Tuesday the introduction of legislation to increase the vaccination rate of Pennsylvania children. The bill would require parents who seek nonmedical exemptions for their children meet with a doctor every year to learn about the risks of not getting...

Officials in a New Hampshire town are trying to figure out how a recently opened time capsule from 50 years ago has nothing in it. Library director Cara Potter in Derry tells WMUR-TV that since she started there five years ago, the safe has been sitting on a shelf. Before...

NEW YORK — A woman who killed her aunt with a meat cleaver in the New York City home they shared has been sentenced to 23 years in prison. Acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan says 32-year-old Elizabeth Sanchez was sentenced Tuesday. She’s also known as Digna Sanchez-Ortiz. A Queens...

Animal welfare officers in Pennsylvania say they removed 23 Chinese Crested dogs and one cat from a filthy home near Gettysburg over the weekend. Pennsylvania Humane Society Police Officer Abby Avery says the agency got an anonymous call about the home in New Oxford and responding officers could smell the...

President Donald Trump complained about a recent poll done by Fox News that showed him falling behind several Democratic candidates for president and said that something was going on at the network. Anchor Bret Baier responded to the statements, explained the network’s polling, and invited the president to join him...

DALLAS — Airlines expect record crowds over the week-long Labor Day period, continuing a rise in travel that has boosted the airlines’ profits all year. The trade group Airlines for America forecast Tuesday that 17.5 million passengers will fly on U.S. carriers between Aug. 28 and Sept. 3. That would...

MONROE, N.C. — Deputies in North Carolina say a man walked into a sheriff’s office and confessed to killing his 15-year-old daughter. A Union County Sheriff’s Office news release states 32-year-old Joshua Lee Burgess walked into the lobby and told dispatchers Sunday morning he was there to surrender for killing...

DETROIT — The father of a girl who authorities say was killed by a neighbor’s dogs that got loose in Detroit said he tried to save his 9-year-old but “she was gone when I reached her.” Emma Hernandez was riding her bike in an alley Monday afternoon when three dogs,...